Buck Wheat always has a plan!
Buck Wheat of course is my 23-year-old daughter, currently of Austin, Texas.
When she signed her nine-month lease the message was clear. THE Buck had no plans to endure the heat of summer in Texas. With the heat rising on the prairies the Lone Star State I thought I'd checked in on my hippie daughter's summer plans.
My daughter who thinks that a boy's TikTok handle on a napkin, is a plan!
And maybe convince her to place a stop in Stamford onto her itinerary.
A parent can dream.
This summer while Texan’s melt, THE gadabout Lipton “plans” on spending three-months wondering THE Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. I had to put “plans” in quotes because there was little in her intentions which sounded like a plan.
Or at least, "I'm going to drive around the country in the Subaru." didn't strike me as a plan at the time.
But I felt better once she told me that she had a bathroom installed!
The Art of Data
Recently, I had a chance to chat with Grant Farnsworth. Grant is the owner of a market research firm which bears his name: The Farnsworth Group.
Since the beginning of the pandemic THE Farnsworth Group has been studying the effects of Covid on the home improvement industry and publishing their results in their monthly Covid Tracker.
The Farnsworth Covid Tracker continues to be the most complete data set I have seen for helping dealers understand changes in consumer behavior. Because if they behave differently, you must!
When I sat down to record a pod and vlog cast with Grant, he told me what I already knew: stores are busy!
But I didn’t need Grant for that. Dealers I speak to share (that despite the complications of the current market conditions) that sales are good. Even dealers who are not seeing growth like they were this time last year find themselves holding on to the growth that they got: THE CovidBoost!
We need Grant because sales figures alone do not tell the full-story of a dealer (or channel). Grant digs deep!
As we trend towards the post-Covid, consumers continue to show their preference to shop online. Consumers who responded that they purchased in-store were down 5% while online purchasers were up over 25%! Much of that online volume driven by the trend towards purchasing online and picking up in store. Which was up over 75%!
Most readers of this data-trend agree: “BOPIS” (buy online pick-up in-store) is here to stay, with 67% of all consumers using this service to make a purchase in the last six-months! In just a few years, it is expected that this purchase path will account for as much as 10% of all retail volume on the continent.
Which makes an e-commerce executive smile!
Grant goes deeper into the data and gives dealers a real understanding of their market right now. While I enjoy all my guests, I learn the most from Grant and you will too! His insights may help you make good decisions in a volatile time.
If you want to join the (growing-thank you!) ranks of my video family you can watch them here on my home page or on my YouTube channel here. I appreciate you guys watching and I'm glad you're enjoying the content. Or go old-school and take me and Grant with you on your commute! Listen to us as a podcast on Apple, Soundcloud or here on my own site.
